Improvement in weighing cars



PATENT OEErcE,

JOSHUA H. ZINN, OF KINGSTON, TENNESSEE.

iIVlPROVEMENT lN WEIGHNG CARS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 55,916, dated June 2G,1866.

To all w'hom it may coacemf Be it known that I, JOSHUA H. ZINN, ofKingston, in the county of Roane and State oi' Tennessee, have inventeda new and. useful Improvementin Cars; and I do hereby declare that thefollowing is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, which willenable others skilled in the art to make and use the same, referencebeing' had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part ot' thisspecilication.

This invention consists in so arranging the bottom of freight or othercars as to rest upon the lever-frames of weighing-scales, arranged andconstructed in any suitable manner to allow the contents orload ofthecar to be weighed, the frame ofthe car being constructed in any of theordinary modes and sustained or supported upon trucks and wheels asusual with brakes arranged in the usual manner.

In accompanying plate of drawings my improvementin cars is illustrated,Figure 1 being a plan or top view ofthe weighing levers or frames,arranged in connection with the frame of the car, and Fig. 2 a verticalsection taken in the plane ofthe line u: x, Fig. l, and in the directionof the length ot' the car.

Similar letters ofreference indicate like parts.

Ain the drawings represents the frame oi" a car, in the bottom of which,but above the plane of the trucks or running-gearof the ci l havearranged a system of levers or frames, B and O, such as are used in theordinary platform-scales. One of these trames, B, extends the wholelength of the bottom oi" the carframe A, or nearly so, turning at oneend upon the upperside edge of the cross bar or brace D oi" the same,but connected at its other, through the vertical rod or bar E, with oneend of the graduated lever or weighing-beam F, hung at or near one endof the car-frame at such height and in Asuch a position as to be mostconvenient for inspection when weighing', etc. This index or graduatedbar or beam may be either arranged upon the outside or inside of the carand inclosed within a suitable box or casing provided with a door foropening or closing the same, so that the said beam can be examined whenso desired.

The otherlever-frame, C, extends from the center ot' the car-tramebottom, or nearly so, (where it is pivoted at the ends ot' each of itsarms G,) to the end of the car-frame at which the lever or weighing-beamis arranged, as above explained, where it rests and turns in a similarmanner to the other frame, B, upon the upper edge of a cross bar orbrace, H, of the car-frame J is a frame or box loosely fitting upon theinside oi' the ordinary box or frame otA the car and resting by itsbottom K upon the leverframes B and O. In this inside box or frame, thebottom of which corresponds to the platform ot' ordinaryweighing-scales, the freight or load is placed. It is intended that whenthis box or frame is empty it will exactly balance the weighing-pea ofthe scales at the lirst notch of the index lever or beam, so that, ii"the car is then loaded cit-her more or less, as the box J, in which thefreight is placed, rests upon the lever-frames B and C, connected tosuch index-bar as explained, it is obvious that the amount of such loador freight can be weighed with the utmost readiness and accuracy, thesame as with Ordinar f weighingscales.

To raise the weight from the weighing' levers or frames B and (J as thecar is moving over the rails, so as to prevent all possibility of injuryor damage occurringl to the weighing devices, I have arranged at eachend ofthe car, and below the bottom ofthe loose inside box, a transverseshaft, P, having near each of its ends, upon the inside of the car-framebeams Q Q, a cam-shaped plate or disk, R, which disks, by turning suchshafts in the proper direction through their handles S S, come to abearing against the under side of the bottom oi' the inside box, and,raising it fromthe lever weighing-frames, remove its weight therefrom,transferring it to the main portion of the (airframe, these disks beingheld in such position by means ot' any suitable catch or other devicewhich will keep their respective shafts from turning until disengagedwhen so desired.

Among the many advantages secured by my weighing attachment to cars,above explained, may be here mentioned as the most imporA tant that,lirst, the weighing can be accomplished with the greatest readiness,dispatch, and accuracy; second, that much expense in the weighing offreight is thus saved and the convenience. of performing it muchincreased; third, that for the weighing of coal, petroleum, and manycommodities or merchandise, my improvementis of the utmost importanceand advantage, for by a1.)plying my arrangement or any other suitablearrangement of Weighing devices to a car especially constructed for thecarrying of petroleum, its Weight in bulk can be ascertained in amoment.

Although l have herein particularly described one mode of arranging asystem of' Weighinglevers in'connection with a car so that the freightor load carried by the same can be weighed with accuracy, it is obviousthat the arrangement of levers can be varied in many respects; andtherefore I do not intend to limit myself to any one particular mode,the present invention consisting in so arranging a system of levers orframesin connection with the bottom of acar that the load or freightupon it can be weighed, either in part or whole, with the utmostaccuracy.

I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patentl. The arrangementof the levers or frames B and C within the bottom portion of the frameof a car. and connected together and With any suitable Weighing lever orbeam, in combination with the inside box or casing resting at each endupon such frames B and C, substantially as described,and forthe purposespecified.

2. The shaft P, having cam-shaped disks R, so arranged as to lift theinside box from the weighing levers or frames, for the purpose setforth.

The above speciiication of my invention signed by me this 23d day ofDecember, 1865.

J. H. ZINN.

Witnesses:

O. STEINWEHR, W. B. LOVE.

